PORVORIM: Aldona Congress MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira on Friday hit out at the government for failing to tackle pollution caused by casinos, as well as the absence of a proper mechanism to monitor the number of people moving in and out of these establishments — thereby leaving the authorities without any means to track individuals in case of an emergency.
“Captain of Ports certifies the capacity of the boat. If it is 399 passengers, they are allowing 384 passengers and the remaining for crew. Then how are the additional staff — the gaming staff — supposed to be part of operations? If the CoP has no control over the entry, then how do you enforce regulation and get an idea of how many people are on board at a given time?” Adv Carlos asked.
“Simply giving permission without knowing how many are entering and leaving — if the boat sinks, we’ll have a problem for everyone,” he added.
He said there were no proper checks on waste disposal by casinos. “We receive complaints that casinos dump waste — the Mandovi River is choked by untreated waste from casinos and restaurants,” he said, referring to a study by CSIR-NIO which claimed that freshwater fish species have declined by 25% over the past 50 years.
“Recurring cases of cholera, typhoid, and mosquito-borne diseases — the government needs to wake up and act quickly,” he said.
He also raised the issue of noise pollution norms not being implemented. “Despite High Court orders, they are not being followed. Even a rogue policeman who was transferred from Anjuna police station was later transferred back there,” he said.
“What is the effective mechanism to tackle the noise pollution these villages are facing? The High Court took cognizance, gave directions, the Collector gave directions, yet people complain day in and day out. If the government is serious, they can stop it. But if the government doesn’t want to, I believe someone is hand-in-glove and benefiting from it,” he said.
He also highlighted the issue of vacancies in courts at all levels and demanded that, as far as the Administrative Tribunal is concerned, there should be a website to access case status, judgments, and orders online.
He further pointed out that the Administrative Tribunal functions from an old and user-unfriendly building in Panjim, which needs immediate rectification.
